1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the control of autonomous vehicles and, more particularly, to a system for controlling an autonomous vehicle which allows selective operation in either an autonomous mode or a manual mode.
2. Related Art
Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill., manufactures off-road mining vehicles. For example, the Caterpillar 777C is an off-road mining truck. The 777C includes sophisticated electronic monitoring and control systems. For example, an advanced diesel engine manager (ADEM) controls engine speed in response to input from an operator-controlled accelerator pedal; an electronic programmable transmission control (EPTC) assures that the transmission is in the proper gear; and a vital information management system (VIMS) monitors vehicle systems and provides status information to the driver/operator.
Commonly owned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,125, filed Feb. 18, 1993, "Vehicle Position Determination System and Method," the full text of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an autonomous vehicle system for use with a mining vehicle such as the 777C truck. What is needed is a means for integrating the commercially available electronic monitoring and control systems of a manned vehicle with an autonomous vehicle system such as that described in the '540 application to produce a vehicle which may be selectively operated in either a manual (i.e., manned) mode or an autonomous mode.